Last Thursday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) published the list of candidates for the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State. It left the space for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blank. Reason: INEC said it obeyed court orders. Note, it did not say order but “orders.” This is an indication that there are various court pronouncements on the process that led to the selection of a candidate for PDP, and also on the candidature of the ‘victor’ at the election. This also possibly means that PDP’s participation in the election is hanging in the balance.
At the last count, there were about four different cases arising from the June 26 primary election of the party. These include those of Edwin Akwuobi, Nwosu Amaechi, Obumneme Jeff and Chukwudi Onochie vs. PDP and INEC listed as FHC/AWK/CS.46/21; Hon. Genevieve Ekwochi vs. PDP, INEC, all the aspirants and Philip Shuaibu who was joined in the suit as secretary and member of the five-man electoral panel listed as FHC/AWK/CS/44/21; there is one between Young Progressives Party (YPP) vs. PDP, INEC and Valentine Ozigbo listed as FHC/AWK.CS/53/21; and also Sen. Ugochukwu Uba vs. INEC, PDP and Valentine Ozigbo listed as suit A/230/2021 before a High court in Awka.
All the above cases strike at the constitutionality of the June 26 primary election of the PDP. Basic request from the courts is that Ozigbo be not recognized as the candidate of the PDP because the primary election that purportedly produced him was flawed and against the constitution of the PDP.
While some of the statutory delegates are in court seeking an invalidation of the primary election and its outcome on the grounds that the election was not properly constituted, leading to their disenfranchisement as against the provision of Article 25(1), (2), (3) and (4) of the PDP constitution, Hon. Ekwochi already secured an order of court to the effect that “nobody should take any further step pending the hearing and determination of both the motion on notice and the originating summons.”
YPP seeks a pronouncement of the court to the effect that the PDP primary election was ab initio void on the grounds that it did not meet provisions of Rule 4.5.1 and 4.5.2 of the guidelines for the conduct of the political party’s primary as far as the seven-day deadline for submission of list of delegates was flagrantly flouted.
Besides, there are also two court pronouncements arising from the Sir Ndubuisi Nwobu chairmanship of Anambra State chapter of the party. This includes those of Samuel Anyakorah vs. PDP and two others listed as CV/774/2021 and another between Akaeze Ugochukwu Vincent vs. PDP listed as FCT/HC/BW/CV/160/2021. The latest here is an enrolment order emanating from an earlier judgment in 2018 on suit FCT/HC/CV/0497/2017 between Marcel Jachin Anyiam vs. PDP and two others.
Here, Akaeze Ugochukwu Vincent sued PDP in his capacity as youth leader of the Anambra PDP elected at the December 4, 2017, congress.
The last two cases border on who the chairman of Anambra PDP actually is. The 2018 judgment of the FCT High Court upheld the election of Sir Nwobu as chairman of Anambra PDP. It also authenticated the congress that elected the executive committee led by him. That judgment has not been set aside by any known court of law in Nigeria. There is also no known appellate court counterpronouncement on the judgment.
The implication is that the judgment subsists till this moment. It is on the strength of that judgment that Akaeze returned to court on June 25, 2021, and secured an enrolment order off Justice Bello Kawu wherein an order of perpetual injunction was made “restraining the defendants (PDP), their agents, assigns, privies, servants or howsoever described from acting on, recognizing or in any manner dealing with any list of statutory delegates for the upcoming governorship primary election in Anambra State other than the list in Exhibit 3 containing statutory delegates produced by members elected at wards, LGAs and state executive committee in Anambra State held November 25, 2017, December 1st, 2017 and December 4, 2017, respectively, and from further violating the terms of the judgment in suit No. FCT/HC/CV/0497/2017 between Marcel Jachin Anyiam vs. PDP and two others same having not been set aside by any competent court.”
The court further ordered that “the defendants herein are bound to obey the said judgment and refrain from any or further acts in breach of, or capable of disparaging the judgment of this Honourable court during the subsistence of this judgment” and that “the defendants cannot legitimately take any further step that violates or continues to violate the terms of the judgment of court as the said judgment is valid and subsisting and same has not been set aside by a competent court.”
The above enrolled order was made on June 25, 2021, and was served on all relevant parties in the suit. However, PDP chose to ignore the order and proceeded with the dissolution of the Nwobu executive and also conducted the election on June 26 without the state executive and state congress.
This is where the issue is. Each of these legal challenges will likely terminate at the Supreme Court, irrespective of what happens at the high court, except a compromise is reached and the litigants withdraw the suits. However, in the event that Sir Ndubisi Nwobu’s election as the chairman of Anambra PDP is upheld by the Supreme Court, the outcome of the June 26 primary election would become null and void as it was not conducted by the state executive committee and the state congress of the party.
With this scenario, PDP would have lost its place on the ballot. On the other hand, if, per chance, Chukwudi Umeaba is upheld by the Supreme Court as chairman of Anambra PDP, as per the judgment of June 9, 2021, in Samuel Anyakora vs. PDP and two others, then the outcome of the primary election conducted by him and his gang, which produced Ugochukwu Uba, will most likely become the authentic primary election. In this case, Uba will be on the ballot for PDP.
Either way, the PDP national leadership, led by Prince Uche Secondus, would have successfully messed with the hopes and aspirations of its members and supporters in Anambra State because of its unwillingness to stay firm in defence of the constitution of the party to allow the state congress perform the function for which it was constitutionally constituted. If PDP fails to be on the Anambra ballot on November 6, it would have lost its brightest opportunity to return to power in that state. The aftermath would be an exodus and the total eclipse of the party in Anambra, and its final exit from the South-East.